DeSantis unveils aggressive immigration, border security policy

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP):

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis promised to end birthright citizenship, finish building the southern border wall, and send US forces into Mexico to combat drug cartels as part of an aggressive – and familiar – immigration policy proposal he laid out on Monday in a Texas border city.

The sweeping immigration plan, the Florida governor’s first detailed policy release as a 2024 contender, represents a long-established wish list of Republican immigration proposals that largely mirrors former President Donald Trump’s policies. Much of DeSantis’ plan faces tall odds, requiring the reversal of legal precedents, approval from other countries, or even an amendment to the US Constitution.

Still, DeSantis projected confidence on Monday, slapping at leaders in both political parties for failing to stop what he called an immigrant “invasion”, as he addressed residents of Eagle Pass, Texas, a community that has emerged as a major corridor for illegal border crossings during Joe Biden’s presidency.

‘NO EXCUSES’

“I have listened to people in DC for years and years and years, going back decades – Republicans and Democrats – always chirping about this, yet never actually bringing the issue to a conclusion,” DeSantis told an audience of roughly 100 people. “What we’re saying is, no excuses on this.”

The DeSantis campaign has promised to release more detailed policy roll-outs in the coming weeks. But in leading with immigration, DeSantis is prioritising a divisive issue that has long been a focus of the GOP’s most conservative voters. The pro-immigrant group America’s Voice condemned DeSantis for making “invasion” references that have been used by white supremacists.

Yet, voters in the political middle have warmed to more aggressive immigration policies in recent months as illegal border crossing surged. Overall, six in 10 adults in the US disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of immigration, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.

Still, it may be difficult for DeSantis to separate himself on immigration from the many other Republicans seeking the 2024 presidential nomination – especially Trump, who’s the front-runner.

That didn’t stop him from trying.

Speaking from a podium emblazoned with the words, ‘No Excuses’ and ‘Stop the Invasion’, DeSantis noted that there were more immigrants deported in the first four years of the Obama administration than in Trump’s first term.

And while DeSantis avoided using Trump’s name during his speech, his repeated references to the unfinished border wall were nonetheless a knock on the former president. Trump tried and ultimately failed to finish a border wall along the entire 1,950-mile (3,140-kilometre) US-Mexico border during his four years in office.

Before the Monday announcement, the DeSantis campaign released new merchandise bearing the words, ‘Build The Wall. No Excuses’.